Improvement in stereotype-casting boxes



M. J. HUGHES. Stereotype-Casting Box.

No. 222,910. Patented Dec. 23,1879.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

J W V ATTORNEYS.

N.PEYERS, PNOTO-LITHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D G TTED warns PATENT OFFICE,

MARSHALL J. HUGHES, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEREOTYPE-CASTING BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,910, dated December 23, 1879 application fileu October 7, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARSHALL J. [-IUenns, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, haveinvcnted a new and useful Improvement in Casting Stereotypes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Stereotype printing plates or blocks are necessarily made of different widths, and hence the bars or parts of the frames which confine'such plates or blocks, and also form the sides of the mold cavity or chamber, (into which the stereotype metal is poured to obtain the casting,) require to be adjusted toward or from each other, in order to accommodate printing plates or blocks of varying dimensions.

In my patent, No. 212,228, dated February 11, 187%),1 have described an improved adjustable frame for this purpose, the principal feature of that invention being the spacing of the bars forming the sides of the mold-cavity, by means of sectional end pieces, which are inserted between said bars. A considerable economy of time and labor is eli'ected by use of that apparatus.

My present invention is a more important improvement in the same direction, sinceI am enabled not only to dispense with the spacingblocks previously employed, but to clamp or secure the side bars at any desired distance apart very quickly and easily, and also to insert or remove the mold with much less difficulty and labor and in a shorter time, as hereinafter described, reference being had to accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the box, with top thrown back, in which the mold is secured while the cast is being made. Fig.2 is a crosssection on line as .r, Fig. 1, showing the box enlarged.

In the several figures, A indicates the bottom of the casting-box and mold-holder, and B the lid or top thereof, which is hinged in the usual manner. 0 0 indicate the rules or bars which form the parallel adjustable sides of the cavity or chamber into which the stereotype metal is poured to produce the printing plate receive such ridges, and the printing plate or block produced will be of exact column width, so that a portion will not require to be sawed off from the side of the plate, as when a printingplate is cast by the old method or means. Such side bars, 0, are attached byhingesa, to the ends of slotted gages D D,.which are arranged at right angles to the former and secured on the bottom A by means of clampscrews E E, that pass through the slots.

This construction and combination of parts enables the side bars, O0, to be easily and quickly adjusted laterally toward or from each other, as required for different widths of molds, and the castings to be made from them, since, in order to make the adjustment, it is obviously only necessary to loosen thenuts of the'screws E E and move the side bars, 0, laterally,'iu which case the gages D D may be easily slid lengthwise on the screws.

The hinges a are so applied as to enable the bars 0 to be turned upward, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, so that the bars may be instantly raised to receive or to remove the mold X in casting, without requiring them to be replaced and readjusted in position whenever a change of molds is made. In other words, by thus securing the side bars, 0, they constitute permanent attachments or portions of the casting-box A B, in place of being detachable therefrom, as usual heretofore, and are hence always in the place required for use, and do not require to be handled by removing them from and replacing them in the box at each change of molds. They may also bead justed quickly and accurately, so that very little time is consumed in removing a casting and readjusting the side bars, or in spacing for different widths of castings The use of the old form of side pieces, which are made separate from the casting-box, in-

volves a serious objection, since they become exceedingly hot in the casting operation and cannot be conveniently handled. By my present' improvement, therefore, the process of stereotype-castingis simplified, and time and labor greatly economized.

Vhat I claim is 1. The combination of the slotted gages and clamp-screws with the side rules or bars and the bottom of the casting-box proper, substantially as shown and described, to operate as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the slotted parallel gages D D and clamp-screws E E with the parallel rabbeted side bars, O C, permanently attached to the inner ends of said gages and the top and bottom of the casting-box, as shown and described.

3. The combination, with gages or bars which are adjnstably attached to the bottom of the casting-box, of the side bars having a hinge-connection with the former, as shown and described.

MARSHALL J. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

AMOS W. HART, CHAS. A. PETTIT. 

